Imagine trying to understand a foreign film without subtitles. You might be able to pick up on context clues, maybe make some lucky guesses based on body language, but you’d sure miss a lot of the details.

Now imagine how you’d feel if your future were based on understanding the details.

This is life in the classroom for more than a fifth of California’s public school students. According to the California Department of Education, 1,332,405 English language learners cannot access grade-level core curriculum in math and English Language Arts because they do not have the English literacy skills they need.

At Oak Manor Elementary, we’re part of a statewide effort to change that. Oak Manor is one of several pilot schools for the California Language and Learning Innovation Collaborations, a program that develops new ways of helping English language learners (ELLs) become literate as quickly and thoroughly as possible, and then sharing successful teaching techniques with other schools.

In California, we’ve had English language development programs for years. But clearly, with a fifth of all California students failing to meet basic literacy standards, we need to do better.

At Oak Manor, 38 percent of our students are ELLs and we are determined to help them access the entire core curriculum. The challenge, of course, is figuring out how to help these kids learn English while also meeting state standards for math, science and English literacy.

The problem is as difficult as it is complex. First, English is a tough language to learn. Add to that the wide variety of skills students bring with them when they arrive at our school, and you can imagine the challenge.

Some students arrive in second or third grade never having attended school (in any language). They struggle. Others arrive in kindergarten with an excellent foundation in language. They pick up English far more quickly. Some kids have an ear for language and support at home; others do not. Some want to learn; others do not. While I can point to a huge number of success stories, we also have students who never made as much progress as they could or should have.

Rather than separate ELLs from other students, we’ve incorporated teaching techniques that help all students master age-appropriate academic language. It just so happens that these techniques are especially helpful for English language learners.

Probably our most effective technique is collaborative conversations, highly structured conversations in which students take turns talking to each other as they answer questions or respond to prompts.

For example, a teacher may show students a photograph of a busy park with children playing, families picnicking and other common activities. The initial prompt may be, “In the photo, I notice __________________. What do you notice?” All students must participate by talking and listening during the conversation.

Collaborative conversations require students to engage. The structure helps them pick up new vocabulary, learn to converse respectfully, and to take turns.

Sometimes collaborative conversations are used to prepare students for a lesson. The teachers front load the vocabulary so when they refer to things by their proper name, students can still understand and follow along.

Although language is about words, it is also about culture. With 60 percent of our students identifying as Hispanic, we make a point of blending Anglo and Hispanic cultural traditions. For example, we’ve taken the Mexican holiday Día del Niño (Day of the Child), and adapted it as part of our annual open house each spring.

This year on April 25, we’ll showcase our students’ work as well as enjoy dinner together and celebrate the creativity of some of our student performers. The Día del Niño/Open House is planned by parents and enjoyed by all.

Language is only one way to communicate, and our students do a beautiful job of overcoming language barriers every day. Our goal as a school is to provide all students with the literacy skills they need so they can access all the academic offerings Ukiah Unified has available to them.